Day 2 of 8 - Arriving to Shira 1 camp

We started the 2nd day (13^th July 2019), before the sunrise. Jonas likes to leave early, so we walk slowly (pole pole) and arrive early to the camp.

Today’s journey is long, around 7km long, and we will move from Mti Mkubwa to Shira 1 camp and we will ascend from 2.650 m ASL to 3.610m ASL. Distances and height are never precise, as different people will give you different figures. Just ask you guide, they are a living GPS.

At 6:00 they come to wake you up and bring a small bucket with hot water. That’s all: there are no lavatories or showers. As we say in Portuguese : “banho à gato”, meaning cat baths, just wash where it smells bad. Best thing we did was to rent our own toilet. When we took a walk around the camp, we could feel the smell and we even took a pick to testify it. It’s disgusting. I do encourage you to rent your own, best well spent money ever.

After waking up we you need to pack you stuff  (including the sleeping bag), and finally get into the mess for breakfast. Jonas comes in for tests, and our SO and heart rate are very good. For now, I can’t feel any symptoms of altitude sickness.

For breakfast, we had a maize porridge that we simply couldn’t eat, so we just asked them to give the traditional tea, fruit and toasts. You have to remember that there is nothing on the mountain. No shops, no drinking water… the porters carry everything you need for the 8 days you stay on the mountain. Don’t expect to eat mangoes and tomatoes during the whole trip, food becomes more scarce in variety.

We took of around 7:1AM, and we were one of the first groups to leave the camp, and it was freezing cold (according to Jonas 5ºC). 

For me, it was the hardest trail. The only one where I felt short of breath and tired. At this point, I was already feeling cold, not freezing cold, but cold enough to wear a light fleece during the trekking. After a while I could take off my jacket, but my hand remained cold for a long time.

There are lots of ups and downs, it’s a steep trail, and we were overtaken by lots and lots of porters and some more experienced and well trained trekkers.

Soon we found there are not many porter women, although it is encouraged they say. I think it is really tough, not only for the weight you need to carry, but also concerning the bad shape of the toilets and lack of minimum hygiene conditions during the trek. Worse than that, is that you will not find a women as leading guide during your trek. We saw one junior guide and our guide mentioned a couple of them. But as you can see, they can name them easily, as they are only a few.

The environment changes from Mountain Forest to Mooreland, as you get higher. The landscape is breathtaking and you can perfectly see, for the first time, mount Meru, and even little Meru, surrounded by its clouds cloth. It’s beautiful. We can’t barely see any wild life, except small rats and lizards.it is a very long walk today, so we stop many times along the way for toilet (meaning behind a tree), get some rest and pictures.

There is no signal during the trek, except for one precise place where everyone heads to. You can see the porters rushing into this place and putting the luggage on the floor. It’s also time for a short rest. Jonas doesn’t like to stop very often, but we have our own rhythm, as we are the ones setting the pace. As you stop, and although it is forbidden in Tanzania, you will fell the smell of weed. People seem to smoke it, as they also believe it is good for heights.

We also called home. It’s heartbreaking to hear the voices of our little ones, and it makes me miss them a lot.

The journey is long and rough. The weather is changing and dark clouds cover the sky. There are no chances to perceive Kibu point. Where is it? Besides walking slowly, to allow your body to adapt to the weather, the height, the mountain and the physical strain, you must also drink lots of water and eat your snacks. It is easy to forget to feed yourself, and you can get weak and tired if you don’t it properly.

As we approach Shira 1 camp, we met the one and only park ranger in the whole park. You don’t find them patrolling the park at all, they are all confined in the camp site and It’s a shame.

The final track to Shira one is wonderful and beautiful, thus some rain drops from the sky and it’s a bit chilly, it looks like you’re walking on the Yellow Brick Road. We can see the camp from far.

As we always arrive early (it took us 5,5 h only (against 7 hours as planned)), we proceeded to Kinapa office for registration.

When arriving to the camp were given some hot water to wash ourselves. Again, don’t delude yourself: only enough to wash your feet, your armpits, hands and face… We had a great light lunch: potato soup and pizza (with minced meat). After lunch we are allowed to have a nap, which I did for about 1,5h, and after I was ready for a new start, We had some tea, and went for a walk to a water stream, where porters are charging jerry cans with water to supply the camps. We also filled our own bottles with water and add a little disinfection tab. It was wonderful. Later we were able to see for the first time Kibu point, with what is left of the eternal snow. It was an amazing view, I will never forget it.

We had dinner at 6:30 PM. The time goes by so slowly, we have enough time for everything, not nothing to do. After dinner we went to bed. Again, I had troubles sleeping, seems like I am struggling with the height and with cold.

Day 0 and 1 - Arriving to Moshi and starting the Trek

On July 10th we arrived to Moshi, by plane.
We arrived in the late evening flight, and the taxi driver was waiting for us. AS we get in the taxi we get the usual tourist conversation, but we quickly told the guy we were residents, living for more than 5 years each in Dar. That wasn't enough, as he kept telling us stories to get money from us. Well, we left the car and made complaint against him.
We arrived to the hotel had dinner and went to bed, we needed to have a good night sleep before getting in the mountain.
Early morning (but not so early for Tanzania), our guide (Jonas) and the company manager (Neema) came to meet us in the hotel, and Jonas briefed us about the itinerary, the challenges, the gear we needed to carry, inspected it all (including our snacks and weight on our bags). Bear in mind that each porter is allowed to carry maximum 20 kg each, and you need to add the sleeping bag and other stuff you may need to rent. We passed the test and left to the renting shop, that looked a set from a Kusturika movie. for me just trekking poles and a good sleeping bag.

(us with Jonas, our Lead Guide)

The store is amazing, you can find anything you need there.
Even more amazing was the crew waiting for us: 12 guys including 1 senior guide (Jonas, of who i will speak about shortly) and Isaac (Guide Assistant), a cook (Beatus), the toilet porter (yes there was one, and his name was Arnold) and unfortunately can't remember the rest, but the waiter was incredible as well. A pretty big team for 2 ladies.
These 12 people are responsible for our safety and well being while in the mountain. Having a good crew is an important feature for the success of your journey.
Off we went to Londorosi gate, where we registered and got the permits for 8 days, 7 nights in Kilimanjaro National Park.

(porters waiting for their turn for weighting the luggage)

All luggage is weighted and porters distribute it among themselves. It's a noisy moment, people stack in lines, tourists are impatiently eating their lunches (which is exactly the same in all lunch boxes, regardless of how high end is your package). When all was set and done, we set off  to Lemosho glades (2.250 m ASL), where we actually started the climbing towards Mti Mkubwa (Big Tree in Kiswahili). We walked for about 2,5 hours through the rain forest. I forgot to mention it before, but one of the reasons we chose this route was because it crosses several different Ecosystems, namely: rain forest, moorland, semi-desert and Alpine desert.
The trek is easy, with some slops but easy, and we made it before schedule to Mti Mkubwa camp (2650m ASL), where our crew set our camp site long before we arrive.
The first real shock for me was not to see any wild life at all, and latter i learnt that given to the increase of humans in the area, the elephants were chase away to Kenya. For now i had only a glance of what this massive tourist attraction means.

We waited in a long line to sign in to the camp, this procedure is done repeatedly every time we reach a new camp. Rangers need to control the number of trekkers at any moment in the camp.

After settling in we had our rewarding tea with popcorn and biscuits. It was really comforting and calming. 

Later we took a walk on the camp, trying to understand the dynamics, how many of us were there, which companies, etc. It was surprising to see so many people, from so many nationalities, specially from the US. Around 100 people in this camp only, knowing that this is one of the least taken routes, imagine how many people we will find in the following days. 

So our camp site, has our tent, the guides tent, the mess and the "kitchen". I soon learnt that the crew sleeps on the mess's and kitchen's floor.

We were ready for diner at 6:30, as the sun sets early and we must adapt to the natural bio-rhythm. Beatus prepared a leeks soup, fried fish and sauteed potatoes, with an avocado salad and vegetable stew. It was simply delicious, I do recommend Beatus as the best cook in the whole camp for sure.

After dinner Jonas met us and briefed us about the following day, what we needed to wear and to pack, what kind of trek we will have, measure the SO2 e heart beat. So far so good, all normal.
We went to bed at 8:00, as we needed to get up at 6:00. I took me a while to fall asleep, but it's normal effect of the altitude.
The second thing that impressed me, was the porters. Regardless of the company, most of them are poorly dressed. Shoes are old and wore off, although it's relatively well paid activity. I was impressed by that and started wondering how they will make it during the coldest days.

It's been quite a long time since i last wrote here. You may find it strange and you're thinking to yourself: why is she writing in English?
I though about it for a long time, but once i am writing about my last adventure in Tanzania: the Kilimajaro Trek, therefore I felt like sharing this ultimate experience with all my friends.
I will be writing about my personal experience in different pieces, just follow the next episodes for more.
It all started last year when we knew that we would definitely leave Tanzania. I was dreaming about it for a while and I couldn't leave Tanzania without making it to the highest African Summit: Uhuru Peak, 5895 m above sea level. Just needed to find the right partner.
I found 4 other partners and we narrowed it down to 2 of us, and me and my dear Paula sat together and started making plans.
Firstly we spoke with friends who done it before, looked online for blogs and expert advice, and we decided the best route for us (totally unexperienced trekkers) was Lemosho Route.
Lemosho is relatively new, but it offers a good acclimatization and has a high success rate (around 97%). As we talked and talked with friends in Dar we were more and more aware of how many people couldn't make it to Summit. It was a bit frustrating as very fit, sportsman/women and people younger than us, didn't make it. It was terrible to hear people's testimonies: vomiting, diarrhea, severe headache, hallucination, exhaustion, extremely severe weather conditions, not bathing, and so on and so on, we though let's do our best, but bear in mind we may not do it.
Fact: as Tanzanian residents we heard a lot about Kili Trek, so we started looking for good companies. By good i mean : reliable, good camping gear, high success rate to Uhuru Peak, good price range, good technical proposal, crew size, good reviews and located in Tanzania. we reached out for a couple of companies and decided by Tanzania Horizon Safaris. And  here's why: they had good reviews, good (and experienced) guides, good camping gear, very responsive to emails and calls, affordable price, and offered 8 days Lemosho route which was exactly what we wanted. One tip: clearly ask about tipping rules and values. It is important to have a notion of how much extra money you need to carry with you)
When selecting a proposal, my advice is to scrutinize the company and clearly ask what kind if camping gear they have (4 season tents, thickness of the mats, sleeping bags), meal routines and menu, provision of oxygen, oxygen measurement twice a day, size of the crew, crew wages and experience of the guide. Also ask how many people will support you on the summit night. Don't be shy, it can make the difference between making it to the summit or not, or most important surviving in the mountain. Please remember that every year climbers and porters die.

Concerning the gear: you need to bring with you everything, except for the tent and sleeping mat. If you need anything you can rent it from the company that is assisting you. Any way, luckily friends provided me good advice and good gear. I was short one some small things which o bought online and my mother kindly brought me.
Bear in mind that you will need extra room in your luggage to accommodate a sleeping bag.

So here short list of what you will need:
- a back pack or a Duffel bag, plus a rain cover.
- day pack (with a rain cover as well)
- good trekking shoes (my friend Tiziana lent me lent me hers. One pair of boot, twice climbed Kili.
- very good trekking socks. I would take light ones for the first 2 days, when it's not so cold, and from then on thermal socks. try to take one pair per day, it's a myth that you will wash them...
- one pair of panties per day. Don't bring sanitary pads, unless you're planning on carrying the all the way.
- 4 pair of base layers. You won't be changing because it's freezing. Just sleep with the one you're wearing
- 1 long sleeves shirt per day. I was down on this item and i regret as i started feeling cold on day 2. Could only wear a Tshir on day one.
- 2 pair of trekking trousers, plus one pair of insulated trekking trousers for the summit night
- 3 polartec fleeces. Make sure they are suitable fro -12ºC, but feels like -20ºC. I wore 2 of them on Summit night. It's freezing cool.
- 1 polartec fleece jacket
- 1 insulated winter jacket (make sure that it's water proof) other wise you will need a light weight rain gear that fits on top of all your layers.
- 1 hard shell jacket
- 2 pair of gloves (one fleeced one an insulated one)
- Sun hat (very very important)
- Bandera or neck gaiter.
- Definitely a good Balaklava
- head lamp and batteries
- warm beanie;
- trekking poles (i rented mine from the tour operator)
- medicines.

Other things you must not forget to take with you:
- a book (i forgot mine and was bored to death)
- 2/3 snacks per day. I carried to many and it's an unnecessary weight in yur back pack.
- 2L water blade (best thing ever invented)
- 1 reusable water bottle (this is very good to have in the camp if you need to take your pils and electrolits)
- sun glasses;
- lip balm;
- vaseline or other hydrating lotion,
- sun block (FPS 50)
- hand sanitizer;
- wet wipes (try to chose some biodegradable)
- electrolites
- legging to wear on top of the thermal layer if you feel to hot and need to take of your insulated trekking trousers (believe me you will feel very hot as you descent from the summit);
- power bank (battery goes fast on the mountain).

Things you should check with your tour operator before hand (you DO NOT WANT TO CARRY ANY EXTRA GRAM ON YOUR BACK PACK)
- toilet paper
- soap
- disinfection tablets

Here is a picture of my climbing gear (besides what i was wearing). Man, it was heavy

A good company will inspect your gear before starting the climb and will advice you either you can wear it or not or if you need to top up with more gear.

Before deciding anything: GO TO SEE A DOCTOR AND SEARCH FOR MEDICAL ADVICE. Share with her/him all the doubts and questions and most: don't hide any symptoms. You will be exposed to extreme altitude (5985m ASL). I went twice: firstly with a very well experienced doctor in climbing mountains in Tanzania. It was extremely helpful.
Secondly, when i was feeling sick, I consulted another doctor who surprisingly also had climbed Kili twice. Couldn't ask for more.

So, I started a laughable routine of walking 30 min twice a week, and some Pilates class. Everyone was emphasizing how hard you need to exercise, to run, swim, walk with a heavy back pack, do this do that. I was so frustrated i couldn't keep up with all those training routines. Closer to the trekking date I had a dry and unstoppable irritant cough and had to take antibiotics while climbing Kilimanjaro. I won't even talk about my friend, who had Dengue and something else which i can't precise. Oh, that's true she went twice to the gym.
So there we were, totally unexperienced and unprepared climbers very excited and ready to climb Kili.

So in a nutshell:
- look for a good tour operator with proven experience;
- go to see a doctor before hand;
- travel light. Take less snacks than everyone advises you to.
- take you medicines and follow doctor advice;
-  bear in mind your entering in a National Park, which is a very weak ecosystem. Just face it: you will leave a huge environmental footprint, depends on you how to minimize it.
- don't bargain about porters and crew: your life depends on them. It will be very unpleasant to you if you have a underpaid crew. They are workers and they deserve every penny they make. They are very brave and responsible workers.
- make a good medical rescue insurance (for very high altitude).
- you will be sharing your tent with someone, make sure you have the right partner;
- rent your own toilet. It worth every penny.

And that's all about preparing to climb Kili.

25 Abril Sempre!

(entre outras coisas traz-me saudades de casa)

Recentemente visitei o Rwanda e a República Democrática do Congo.
Já vejo corações a palpitar e também já sei, foi uma irresponsabilidade. Dizem todos o mesmo. O Congo é um país em conflito, tem milhares de migrantes internos e para os países contíguos, não se conseguem distinguir os milicianos dos rangers do Parque Nacional de Virunga ou dos outros militares, etc. etc..
O Congo é um dos países mais ricos do mundo, vetado a uma pobreza extrema. Um contrasenso total.
Milhares de crianças povoam as ruas de Goma, na região do Kivo na fronteira com o Rwanda, num cenário que me fez lembrar em tudo Angola: bagunça, sujidade, lojas que vendem tudo, motas por todo o lado, pessoas em todo o lado. A única diferença é a forte presença das Nações Unidas , onde um contingente de 18.300 capacetes azuis se faz notar a cada esquina.
O parque nacional  de Virunga é aparentemente seguro e tranquilo, ou talvez seja a doçura dos Gorilas e a assombro de olhar para um vulcão activo que nos fazem esquecer os riscos a que estamos sujeitos em tal ambiente. Nas estradas essa sensação dissipa-se, há barricadas em todas as vilas com postos de controlo, és acompanhado por um ranger armado durante todo o percurso e precisas de autorização para atravessar os postos de controlo, milhares de pessoas vestidas com fardas militares, capacetes azuis a cruzarem a alta velocidade e helicópteros a sobrevoarem o parque. Se a experiência value a pena? Sim, valeu, principalmente se pensar que provavelmente quando os meus filhos tiverem idade para visitar o PNV já não haverá gorilas de montanha.
Bom adiante, tudo isto para falar sobre os clichés de África.
O choque.
Houve duas coisas que me chocaram nesta viagem, profundamente devo dizê-lo. O primeiro foi o museu do genocídio em Kigali, que relata ponto por ponto, cronologicamente, as raizes do genocídio e a sua perpretação. É angustiante ver a origem da natureza humana e pensar que realmente somos feitos de ódio. No fundo, somos todos bons, mas fervilhando em ódio. Só precisamos de um motive para deixar escapar cá para fora a nossa verdadeira essência. Estima-se que cerca de 1.000.000 de pessoas tenham sido chacinadas (usando entre outras catanas, machados e outras armas rudimentares), 2.000.000 de mobilizados nos países contíguos e cerca de 500.000 órfãos. Os relatos são na primeira pessoa e são devastadores. Houve delações de amigos, vizinhos, familiares e participação dos mesmos no genocídio. Não sei como se sobrevive a isto. Tu mataste o meu filho, tu delataste-nos, fiquei órfão, perdi tudo na vida. Como diz a música, it could be me, it could be you.
O mais inquietante é pensar que a paz actual poderá ser a prazo. Não se sabe quando, mas poderá ter um prazo.
A outra coisa que me chocou foi a percepção, nua e crua, do que significa alteração do uso do solo e desflorestação. O Rwanda, um país verde e magnífico, não tem um 1cm2 de área florestal, além dos Parques Nacionais e alguns polímeros, adivinhe-se, de eucaliptos. Toda a área está ocupada pelas populações para habitação e agricultura. É um choque brutal! montanhas inteiras ocupadas com casas, plantações de chá, pequenas hortas comunitárias e familiares. Nem um macaco nos interstícios. Aí entendi o que significa excesso de população e que é claramente o que esta a destruir o nosso planeta. É um cenário devastador, fiquei boquiaberta com tal.
Tudo isto serve para dizer que acho que temos que começar a investir no controlo populacional. O Rwanda é do tamanho do Alentejo e tem 10.000.000 de habitantes, a Tanzânia tem mais de 52,482,726 de habitantes (estimativa 2016), and so on and so forth... Aqui se vê que o nosso problema é excesso de gente no mundo. A Terra é um espaço limitado, não há espaço para todos, sobretudo não há recursos para todos. O maior problema associado a este crescimento exacerbado da população encontra-se relacionado com o facto de este ter lugar nos ditos países em desenvolvimento, onde não há orçamento para saúde, educação, planeamento familiar, apoio à maternidade, nem emprego. Estes países, em poucos anos, serão insustentáveis. O que vai acontecer às pessoas? o que nos vai acontecer a todos?
Um pedido só: quando assinam acordos, por favor cumpram-nos. Pode ser que nos salvemos da extinção.
Entretanto, também podemos tentar salvar estes bichos fofinhos chamados gorilas de montanha. Vá lá, se não se interessam pelo bicho homem pelo menos façam algo por este.

Há mais de 3 anos que abandonei o meu blog.
Há 3 anos a minha vida deu uma reviravolta que me levou a abandonar a escrita e a dedicar-me a outras funções. Há 3 anos nasceu a minha filha.
Depois dela nascer, descobri outros predicados em mim, como por exemplo, que ser mãe é a melhor coisa do mundo e que até tenho jeito. Descobri que passo muitas mais noites acordada agora que as que passei nos wild years da minha vida.
Descobri que há coisas mais importantes que o trabalho. Descobri o que é ter uma família. Descobri que afinal consigo ser uma pessoa organizada, no meio do caos de fraldas, refeições, horários, escolas e actividades.
Depois desta revolução, mudadecasamudadevidamudadeempregomudadeestadomudadeprioridades, mudámos de oceano. Continuo do lado contrário, que por acaso continuo a achar ser o certo, mas noutro país: a República Unida da Tânzania.
Um país onde há um punhado de portugueses residentes (sabe-se lá a fazer o quê) e umas centenas de descendentes de Goeses, de Damão e Diú. Pode dizer-se uma comunidade extensa, mas diversificada e bastante desagregada, que em nada se assemelha à experienciada em Angola, onde residiam cerca de 200.000 portugueses. Foi assim que perdemos o amparo da nossa rede: deixámos para trás os amigos que conquistámos nos últimos 7 anos, a casa recém mobildada, as carreiras e zarpámos. Se olhei para trás? Muitas vezes, mas aqui reconstruímos a vida, aprendemos a língua local, procurámos casa, comprámos mobília para a tornar nossa e pusemos umas andorinhas no alpendre para não nos esquecermos de onde viemos (e no princípio era o verbo...).
Por fim, abastecemos o frigorífico de bacalhau na primeira viagem a Portugal e cantamos canções do Zeca para embalar as crianças.
Agora já nos podemos sentar no sofá, olhar em redor e chamar-lhe lar.
Agora já tenho tempo para escrever. Esperemos.

Mutamba, mutamba mutamba

Andei pela primeira vez de Kandongueiro em muitos anos de Angola.
Não sei se este conta, porque estava lá dentro cheio de pulas, mas que faziam tanto barulho como os angolanos em hora de ponta.
O sentimento foi de euforia e de trabalho completo. Posso finalmente riscar da lista de coisas a fazer a 8º maravilha de Luanda, que é andar de kandongueiro.
e para quem não sabe o que é um kandongueiro, aqui fica a imagem de um (que além do mais leva ao extremo as questões do novo acordo ortográfico).

 

para quem não sabe dos poderes que tem:

leva gente, muita gente, a lugares impensáveis, onde nunca antes se chegara